


Safe With Us

by seonghwhydoidothis



Series: Safe With Us [1]
Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Dog hybrid mingi, Hongjoong and Seonghwa are parents, M/M, Mingi is a dog hybrid, Multi, San and Mingi are both children, seongjoong
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:47:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24413833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seonghwhydoidothis/pseuds/seonghwhydoidothis
Summary: Hongjoong and Seonghwa clumsily play along when San starts going through his imaginary friend phase. But when the half dog, half human creature from San's stories and drawing turns out to be real, they're in for a wild ride.
Relationships: Kim Hongjoong & Choi San, Kim Hongjoong & Song Mingi, Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa, Park Seonghwa & Choi San, Park Seonghwa & Song Mingi
Series: Safe With Us [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2080044
Comments: 19
Kudos: 129





	Safe With Us

**Author's Note:**

> hhhhi this is my first fic on here so I'm really nervous but I hope you like it, I worked really hard on it :')

Hongjoong and Seonghwa were good parents. At least, they thought they were. San was just hard to raise. No, not hard, he was a good child. He was just, well, energetic, destructive, and _loud_. But he was also caring, adorable, and fun. So yeah, they were good parents, they had a good child, and everything was _great_. 

Recently, San had started kindergarten. Both Hongjoong and Seonghwa were shocked at the change that happened from San being home 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to him going to school for four hours each day, but it was a somewhat welcome change. San had things to do, kids to make friends with, and teachers to unload his energy on instead of Hongjoong and Seonghwa. Each day San would come racing out of the classroom with his backpack hanging down to the backs of his knees, chubby little hands clasped around a crude crayon drawing. It was usually a house consisting of a square, a triangle for the roof, and a few windows slapped on the front, and three stick figures standing in front of it. Each day, Hongjoong or Seonghwa (whichever one was there to pick San up that day) would scoop the child up, cooing at the drawing and kissing his squishy little cheeks. 

Lately, however, there were always four stick figures drawn into the little home that only the three of them shared. A second one, just as small as San was, with little brown ears on his head, and a tail in mid-wag behind him. The body was human, the same stick figure setup that San had given himself, just with ears and a tail. Seonghwa and Hongjoong had puzzled over the drawings for almost an hour, squinting at the figure and analyzing it.

\--

_“Is this San trying to tell us that he wants a dog?” Seonghwa held the drawing, first close to his face, then at arms length. Neither distance explained the shape of the creature, which was neither human nor dog in full._

_Hongjoong snorted, shaking his head as he tried to imagine taking care of a dog in addition to their already wild five year old son. He, too, was puzzled by the half-human, half-dog figure in all of San’s latest doodles, but he’d be damned if that little boy coaxed them into adopting a dog._

_“Hwa, give it a rest. It’s probably just an imaginary friend. San’s gonna be fine, I dunno what you think this means but it’s probably nothing.” Hongjoong gently plucked the array of drawings from Seonghwa’s hands, pinning each one back in its place on the fridge and grabbing Seonghwa’s hand. Hongjoong led his husband down the hallway, peeking into San’s half-open door to see the child fast asleep under his covers. Hongjoong grinned, padding into the room and crouching by the bed. The bed, bought for San’s third birthday, was in the shape of a racecar, and was used in many a playtime between the three of them. Hongjoong brushed aside the hair that was spilling sloppily over San’s little forehead, pressing a kiss to his temple and tucking the blanket back up around his chin from where it had slid down._

_Seonghwa did the same, kissing San’s little button nose rather than his forehead, and smiling adoringly at their child. Seonghwa wasn’t aware that he was staring at San with a fond grin until Hongjoong wrapped his arms around Seonghwa from behind, trying and failing to rest his chin on Seonghwa’s shoulder and settling for pressing his cheek against Seonghwa’s back instead._

_Seonghwa snorted as the fragile moment was shattered, turning in Hongjoong’s arms to smirk at him._

_“Too short?”_

_“Shut up. Stop watching our son sleep and come to bed.” Hongjoong grumbled, face sliding into a pout as he bustled off to bed. Seonghwa chuckled, making sure that San was tucked in extra tight before following after Hongjoong._

\--

Seonghwa stood at the counter, spreading peanut butter and jelly onto white bread to pack into San’s lunchbox. He made sure to cut the sandwich in half, as San had begun requesting that as of late. Seonghwa had no idea why, maybe San was swapping half of his sandwich with another student. Wouldn’t kill him. 

Seonghwa felt a tug at the hem of his shirt and turned to see San standing there, hair all combed into place and backpack already lazily hanging off of his shoulders. Seonghwa grinned, tucking the sandwich into San’s lunchbox along with a snack bag of doritos, a tupperware of watermelon, and a chocolate chip cookie, and presenting the five year old with his lunch.

“Papa?”

“Hm?” Seonghwa walked around to stand behind San, unzipping his backpack and sliding the lunchbox inside. 

“Can you pack some meat in my lunch today?”

Seonghwa froze, tugging the lunchbox back out and walking around to look at San.

“I suppose I can make you a new sandwich, I can eat this one. But why?”

“Well, my friend, Mingi, he likes meat.” San grinned, blinding grin on full display.

Seonghwa cocked his head, “Mingi? I don’t think I’ve heard you talk about him before, is he in your class?”

“No, but he’s at school every day!” Seonghwa hummed, assuming that this Mingi kid was a year or two above San.

“But anyways, he never has anything to eat, and so I share my food with him! But he likes meat, and so I thought that maybe you could pack me some?”

Seonghwa stopped what he was doing, setting down the bread bag and crouching down to be at eye-level with San.

“What do you mean he never has anything to eat?”

“Well, no one wants to be his friend, ‘cuz they think he’s weird, so I’m the only one that sits with him, and I’m the only one that gives him food.”

“Okay, well, that’s very nice of you, but don’t his parents send him with food every morning?”

San shook his head, wisps of hair flying out of place as he did so, “No! He doesn’t have parents! He told me, he told me that someone made him, but that they didn’t like him, so they threw him out. That’s why people think he’s weird, because he sleeps in the bushes by the playground, and he has little puppy ears, and a tail, and doesn’t have a home to go to at night!” San’s pout grew with each exclamation and Seonghwa was nearly dashing to the phone to call the school about this poor abandoned child when San mentioned the ears and tail, just like the figure in the drawings that San had been coming home with. Seonghwa’s chest relaxed, panic no longer clawing at it at the thought of a child without a home. It was just San’s imaginary friend. Seonghwa had heard that playing along with children during this phase was helpful to their growth, so that’s exactly what he did.

“Okay San, I’ll send you _two_ sandwiches then. One for you, and one for Mingi. Does Mingi like doritos too?”

San thought for a moment, eyebrows furrowing before he nodded with bright eyes, “I gave him some once! He said they were yummy. But no cookie for Mingi! Chocolate makes his tummy hurt.”

“Ah, okay. So here’s two sandwiches, two bags of chips, and plenty of watermelon for you two to share. Tell Mingi hello for me, okay?”

San nodded, thanking Seonghwa cheerily and running to the living room before dashing back to Seonghwa.

“Can I bring this blanket for Mingi to have tonight? He doesn’t have any! He’s always so cold, papa, please?”

Seonghwa grimaced, he really didn’t like the idea of San abandoning their blanket at the kindergarten playground overnight but how was he supposed to explain himself? If he did, he’d have to choose one of two options. Either San was making Mingi up, or Seonghwa didn’t care that the little boy was cold at night. The first was, of course, true, but Seonghwa didn’t want to hurt San. So he nodded, folding the blanket up neatly and tucking it in the child’s backpack along with his overstuffed lunch box. 

“Thanks papa!”

“‘Course Sannie, come here, give me a hug. Daddy is dropping you off today, and I’ll pick you up.” Seonghwa scooped San up, holding the child on his hip and kissing his chubby little cheek.

“Okay! Wait!” San jolted in Seonghwa’s arms and the man nearly dropped the child, fumbling to readjust his grip in time.

“What?”

“You can meet Mingi! After school, I’ll ask him to wait for you!” San grinned, wrapping his arms around Seonghwa’s neck and squeezing the man tight in a hug.

“Okay, okay, that sounds good. Have a good day, and don’t forget that your library book is in the front pocket of your backpack! Give it back to Mrs. Lyon during library time today!” Seonghwa pitied the poor librarian, she had to keep up with hundreds of little children destroying the order of her small library every day. Seonghwa put San down on the floor again, grinning fondly at his son.

“Okay! I won’t forget, but I’m gonna renew it! Mingi and I are reading it together, we’re not done yet.” San was already halfway down the hall trying to find Hongjoong before Seonghwa could say anything back, leaving the man stunned into silence. A soft chuckle escaped Seonghwa’s lips and then he was back to cleaning up the kitchen, all thoughts of San’s imaginary friend Mingi pushed out of his mind. 

\--

Hongjoong was at work and hours into his shift when it was time for Seonghwa to pick San up. Each man took rotating work days so that they could have equal time with San throughout the week, and each subtly fought to be the one to greet San after a day of school.

Seonghwa was leaning against the school’s gates, white t-shirt tight on his chest and sunglasses shielding his eyes from the blinding sun. The sun threatened to bleach his hair, but it was already a sleek blond, so it didn’t matter much. The school bell rang and Seonghwa’s heart leapt in his chest, knowing that he’d soon have his baby back in his arms, probably babbling about what addition problems that they’d done that day, or what a certain classmate had done on the playground. 

Sure enough, San came rocketing out to greet Seonghwa who smiled excitedly, lifting San into his arms and whirling him around. San squealed, throwing his arms around Seonghwa’s neck and beginning his rambling about how his day had gone.

“...And at lunch, Mingi and I- Wait!” Seonghwa was halfway to the car when San wriggled in his hold, slipping out of Seonghwa’s arms and landing, thankfully, on his feet on the pavement below. Seonghwa’s lips were already parted to scold San for such a dangerous move, when the child took off back towards his classroom. Seonghwa cursed low under his breath, jogging after San and nearly skidding to a halt in front of the playground.

“San! What are you doing? Come back here, we have to get home! Daddy is gonna be home in a few hours,” Seonghwa could feel the curious glances that he got when he mentioned Hongjoong, most parents not having guessed that San had two fathers, “And we’re gonna have dinner ready for him.”

“But Papa! You said I could introduce you to Mingi!”

Seonghwa sighed lightly, nodding his head, “You’re right, go ahead.” Seonghwa was bracing himself for having to mime interaction with this imaginary child, already planning out how he was going to act, _Ah, hello Mingi, my name is Seonghwa! It’s so nice to meet you, did you like the sandwich that I packed you today?_

What Seonghwa was not prepared for was San to dash into the bushes surrounding the playground, rustling around for a moment before he emerged again, this time with a chubby hand grasped in his.

“Papa, this is Mingi! Mingi, this is my Papa, he’s the one that made you lunch today!”

Seonghwa’s mouth fell open as not only San emerged from the bushes, but another boy as well, dirt smeared across his little cheeks and dog ears standing perfectly on his head. The boy’s clothes were ripped and tattered, but the blanket that San had stolen from their living room that morning was draped around his shoulders.

Seonghwa must have stood in silence for too long, because San reached out to poke his tummy lightly, “Papa? Papa, what’s wrong? Say hi to Mingi!”

Seonghwa bent over slightly, eyes darting all over the scruffy little boy’s face and head, noticing that the ears looked completely real. There was no headband, and they seemed to move completely on their own.

Seonghwa shook his head, refocusing on the two boys that stood before him. 

“Um, Mingi, It’s so nice to meet you. I hear you’re friends with San?”

Mingi nodded, small smile breaking out over his cheeks, “He’s my best friend.”

“San’s your only friend, _freak_.” Seonghwa turned to see one of the other children in San’s class, it was evident that the child’s parents weren’t there to pick him up just yet.

“Hey, don’t call him that! He’s not a freak.” San’s eyes ignited with fury and his free hand curled into a fist, the other still gripping Mingi’s tightly.

Seonghwa was about to interject something about leaving his son and his son’s friend alone, but before he could the bully had scooped up a fistful of mud from a flower box, flinging it at San. Seonghwa darted forward, ready to grab San and whisk him out of the way but Mingi jumped bravely in front of San, taking the hit himself and swinging his arms out to his sides to protect San from any future projectiles.

San shrieked, tugging Mingi back to stand beside him and looking at the mud that was slowly sinking into the fabric of Mingi’s shirt. Seonghwa was about to tend to Mingi, making sure that the child was okay when San tried charging at the other child, little fists ready to pummel the boy. Seonghwa darted his hands out, grabbing his son before he could maul another child, picking him up and wincing when San’s flailing legs hit him in a place where he would have rather not been kicked. He managed to restrain San, whispering in his son’s ear that he’d help him get more subtle revenge on the child later.

“Promise?” San turned to raise an eyebrow at Seonghwa and the man nearly choked at how much San resembled Hongjoong. 

“Yeah, I promise.”

San held out a pudgy little pinky and Seonghwa gladly linked his own in it, setting his son down now confident that the police wouldn’t be showing up at their house later that night on murder charges. San resumed his place at Mingi’s side, helping the dogboy scoop some of the mud off of his shirt.

The little boy who’d thrown mud at Mingi seemed disinterested now, taking his backpack and wandering off through the school. Seonghwa secretly hoped that that child would be just a little too close to a door when someone happened to open it next.

“Papa? Can I give Mingi one of my shirts? His got yucky.” San pointed at the mess of mud on Mingi’s shirt as if Seonghwa hadn’t noticed it, looking up at Seonghwa with big shiny eyes.

“Of course, I don’t think we should leave Mingi here. It’s not safe for you to be here overnight, something might happen to you. Why don’t you come home with us for right now, and we’ll get everything sorted out by tomorrow. Sound good?” Seonghwa was not sure of what he was supposed to be doing in this situation, but he definitely knew that he couldn’t leave the poor thing out in the bushes overnight. Dog, human, half of each, the boy deserved a bed to come home to at night. 

Mingi’s eyes lit up as San squealed, both children rushing to hug Seonghwa as best they could. However, the highest anyone was able to reach was Seonghwa’s abdomen, Mingi’s head resting against Seonghwa’s tummy for a brief second. Seonghwa felt his heart leap in his chest, the sight of his son and his son’s best friend both squeezing him tight bringing warmth to his chest. He bent down, gently unclasping San and Mingi’s arms from his waist before lowering himself to the ground, hugging them each properly. 

Seonghwa felt something brush against his arm that was wrapped around Mingi and San together, peering behind the two boys to see that it was, in fact, Mingi’s tail. This was going to take some getting used to.

\--

San only went to kindergarten for a few hours a day, so it was only around one pm when they got home. Mingi had quite enjoyed the car ride, peering out the window of the backseat the whole time, a goofy little grin on his face. Seonghwa barely had time to unbuckle San’s booster seat straps before the boy was out of the car and racing around to the other side to get Mingi.

“Mingi, you can see my room! We can play with all of my toys!” San cheered, forgetting all about his backpack still in the backseat of Seonghwa’s car. The man let out a laugh, grabbing the backpack and unlocking the door for San and Mingi. The two boys raced inside, San pulling Mingi down the hall and into his bedroom faster than Seonghwa could process.

“Boys, boys! Come back for just a second!” Seonghwa hollered down the hallway, already unpacking what was left of San’s lunch and disposing of the plastic bags that they had used. Seonghwa heard little feet against the floor for a moment and then both boys were right behind him, identical grins on their faces.

“Yes Papa?”

“I want you two to play for about an hour, and then we can go and get ice cream. Does that sound good?” San’s eyes lit up at the mention of the frozen treat but Mingi just looked confused.

“Mingi, don’t you want ice cream?” San looked almost appalled at the lack of enthusiasm from his friend.

“Well, I don’t know. I’ve never had it before. Is it good?”

San gasped, “You’ve never had ice cream?! Papa, can we go now?”

Seonghwa laughed, “No San, let’s wait a bit. Mingi, ice cream is good, I think you’ll like it.”

“Okay, thank you!” Mingi grinned, slightly pointed canines on full display. Seonghwa felt his smile grow, knowing that it was going to be _very_ hard to give up this child come tomorrow.

San and Mingi raced off back down the hallway, giggling to themselves about some funny joke that San had made or how Mingi had never had ice cream before. Seonghwa watched them disappear into San’s room, pulling out his phone and shooting a quick text to Hongjoong.

_Hey babe, I hope work is going well. San has a friend over for a bit of a playdate, hope you don’t mind._

It was less than a minute later when his phone buzzed with Hongjoong’s response, _‘Of course not! Tell San’s friend that he can stay for dinner if his mother says it’s okay.’_

 _I think it’ll be fine, thanks for understanding._ Seonghwa slid his phone into his pocket, sighing as he tried figuring out what the hell he was supposed to do now. 

\--

Hongjoong felt his face morph into a small smile as his house came into view, parking the car in the driveway and getting his bag from the backseat. He barely had time to lock his car before San was racing down the driveway, arms already up to signal that Hongjoong was supposed to pick him up.

“Daddy! You’re home!” San squealed, wrapping his little legs around Hongjoong’s waist when the man picked him up and spun him around. 

“I’m home! How was your day baby?” Hongjoong started for the door, shoving his keys in his back pocket and letting San rest on his hip while he walked.

“It was so good! Papa let me bring Mingi home today!”

“Mingi? Is that your friend? Your Papa said something about a playdate.” Hongjoong reached the door, struggling slightly to open the door while San was still in his arms and his bag was gripped in his other hand.

“Mhm! I told Papa that he could meet Mingi today and then after school I introduced them, and then a kid threw mud at Mingi, so Papa let him come over for a new shirt, except I think he lives with us now!” San babbled, reluctantly allowing himself to be set down when the two were inside. 

“ _Lives_ with us? What do you mean, baby?” Hongjoong crouched down, wondering if San had misunderstood the child staying for dinner as a permanent living arrangement.

“Well, Papa said that he could come home with us today, and that we’d see where he could go tomorrow, but he gets to sleepover! I’m so excited!” San didn’t give Hongjoong a chance to answer him before he was dashing back down the hall, leaving a very confused Hongjoong standing in the doorway.

“Seonghwa? Seonghwa! We need to talk!” Hongjoong set off down the hallway, intent on peering into his room to see if his husband was in there. He passed San’s room and felt a tiny hand grab his own, turning to see San grinning up at him.

“Daddy, come meet Mingi!”

“Ah, okay. I will, and then do you know where your Papa is?”

“Nope.” San dragged Hongjoong into his room, leading him to the bed where another little boy sat. Hongjoong didn’t register anything until the child was turning around from where he’d been facing the wall, leaving the small toy cars that he’d been racing along the wall on the bedspread. The boy looked especially tall for his age, black hair ruffled and falling into his eyes as dog ears sat perked on top of his head. Hongjoong’s mouth fell open slightly, his breath hitching as he caught sight of not only the ears but a tail that was waving slowly behind the boy as he sat there.

Mingi gave Hongjoong a smile, waving a little hand at him as his eyes scrunched into little crescents. Hongjoong quickly broke out of his daze, smiling and waving back, kneeling by the bed.

“San said your name was Mingi, yes?”

Mingi nodded, helping pull San onto the bed when it looked as though the child was about to fall backwards. 

“I like that name, Mingi. Where did you… How are you, I mean, well,” Hongjoong struggled to find the words that he needed to convey to the small child that Hongjoong had no idea how the child even existed, when Seonghwa ducked into the room. 

“Ah, Hongjoong, I thought I heard your car. Why don’t we, um, catch up, in the other room.”

Hongjoong nodded, patting each boy on the head gently before nearly running after Seonghwa, shutting the door of their shared room behind him.

“Seonghwa, _what the hell_?”

“I don’t know! San asked me to meet Mingi today and told me that the kid had dog ears and a tail, I obviously didn’t believe him, like you said last night, the kid in his drawings was probably just an imaginary friend! But then San crawled into the bushes around the playground and came out with Mingi! And he’s real, as far as I know, maybe I’m just going insane.” Seonghwa buried his face in his hands, groaning in frustration.

“No, you’re not going insane. Unless we’re going insane together. But how does that even happen? Did you check to make sure the ears and tail weren’t fake?”

“Hongjoong, they _move_. And what am I supposed to do, yank on them and see if they fall off?”

“Okay, okay! I just don’t know what’s going on! And why didn’t you tell me?” Hongjoong scolded Seonghwa, tugging the man’s face away from his hands so that they could make eye contact.

“You were at work! You’re telling me that you would have been able to refocus and stay the entire day at work if I texted you that our son had made friends with a dog person?”

“No, but I could have come home! This is not _normal_ Seonghwa, what are we supposed to do?”

“I don’t know! We can’t just leave him out there again, did San tell you where the boy’s been sleeping before today?”

“No, where?”

“In the bushes! That poor little boy has been sleeping in the bushes around the school for god knows how long, and San’s been his only source of food! Of course I always gave San _one_ meal, which means that Mingi has only been getting half of a pb&j and a few doritos since San’s been in that school, who knows what he was eating before!”

“Oh my _god_! He’s been homeless for that long? And without food, Jesus Christ. How did the school not notice and call someone?”

“Hongjoong, San’s been telling me that everyone in his class bullies Mingi. The kids might be the only ones who know about him, and they don’t want to help him. So he’s just been out there, starving and cold for at _least_ three months, I don’t know what to do!”

“They bully him? What the hell is their problem?”

“I don’t know! You should have seen it, San crawled out of the bushes with Mingi and I introduced myself, you know, after my heart started beating again, and then Mingi mentioned that San was his best friend, and some little shi-”

“ _Seonghwa._ ”

“Some little kid came over and told him that San was his only friend, the kid called him a freak! And then San got angry and defended him, and the kid tried throwing mud at San! I was gonna grab San and get him out of the way but before I could Mingi ran in front of San, he got mud all over him, and he didn’t even seem to mind. He must get that kind of treatment every day.”

“Mingi ran in front of San?” Hongjoong looked equal parts impressed and confused.

“Yeah. He didn’t even look phased, Hongjoong, we need to help him! We can’t just send him back out there in the cold to live in the _bushes_.”

“Well I _know_ that, but what the hell are we supposed to do with him?! We can’t-”

There was a thud just outside the door and both men’s heads whipped around to the side, Seonghwa’s eyes narrowing as he tip-toed over to the door. He wrenched it open, sighing when San and Mingi both toppled inside, evidently having been leaning against the door listening.

“Papa~, why’d you make us fall? That was mean.” San was flat on his tummy, chubby cheeks squished in his hands as he pouted up at Seonghwa.

“No, listening to someone’s private conversations is mean. Wanna tell us why you were doing it?” Hongjoong crouched beside San and Mingi, the latter of which had righted himself and was standing with his hands behind his back, ears flopped down and held tight to his head in shame.

“We heard you yelling, and we wanted to know why!” San finally lifted himself up off of his tummy, turning and seeing Mingi standing with his head to the floor.

“Mingi, what’s wrong?”

“They’re _angry_ now, we shouldn’t have listened.” Mingi whispered, just barely loud enough for Seonghwa to hear. Hongjoong cooed, dipping his head down so that he could meet Mingi’s eyes and wiping away a tear that slid down the dogboy’s chubby cheek. 

“Mingi, it’s okay. You’re not in trouble, and we’re not angry. This time, we weren’t talking about anything especially private. But we’d have preferred if it had stayed between us. That’s all sweetheart, we won’t punish you for something like that.” 

“Really?” Mingi croaked, looking up at Hongjoong with teary eyes.

“Really, come here.” Hongjoong pulled the child into a hug, bringing a hand up to cup the back of his head. Mingi sniffled into Hongjoong’s shoulder, little hands gripping tight at Hongjoon’s shirt.

San’s brows furrowed as he tried understanding why his friend was so upset, looking up at Seonghwa with a face full of concern. Seonghwa held his arms out, lifting San up into his arms and letting the boy rest his head on his chest. 

“Papa?” San’s voice was so quiet that Seonghwa doubted even Mingi could hear it, despite the boy’s probably impeccable hearing.

“Yes San?”

“Do people hate Mingi ‘cause he’s different?”

Seonghwa’s breath caught in his throat as he tried to figure out how to answer his child. 

“Yes, people don’t like him because he’s different. He _looks_ different, and people get scared. Differences scare some people, and those people are the same people that get mad at Mingi for being the way that he is. But those people are wrong. DIfferences are a good thing, and Mingi is a good little boy. He deserves a family who loves him, not a bush to sleep in and mud all over his shirt. You did the right thing being friends with him no matter what your other classmates said, because now you have Mingi as a friend. We’re very proud of you, baby.” Seonghwa pressed a kiss to the side of San’s head, squeezing him tight before setting him down on the floor again. Hongjoong gently peeled Mingi off of him, cupping the boy’s cheeks in his hands and wiping away the stray tears. 

“Okay. How about we do this, hm? We’ll go get some ice cream, like I promised, and while you two are eating,” Seonghwa placed a hand on Mingi and San’s shoulders, “We,” Hongjoong came to stand beside Seonghwa, “will talk about what we’re gonna do here. Okay?” 

“Okay!” San grabbed Mingi’s hand, wrapping his arms around his friend in a bear hug even though Mingi was a head taller than him.

“San?” 

“Mhm?” Mingi wrapped his arms around San in return, tail slowly swaying behind him, “thanks for bein’ my friend.”

—

Mingi _definitely_ liked his strawberry ice cream, enjoying the sweet treat as fast as he possibly could. San stuck with his cookies and cream, though each boy tasted a bite or two of the others’ snack.

Hongjoong and Seonghwa sat at the other end of the table, Seonghwa with a cherry popsicle and Hongjoong with a simple vanilla cone. They stuck to their agreement, though they used their phones to text each other about what to do about Mingi because they didn’t want the children to hear.

_HJ: So, it goes without saying that we can’t let him go back to the school._

_SH: Of course, honestly, I think the only thing we can do is take him in._

_HJ: I was thinking that too. I don’t want to risk anyone mistreating him because of who he is. I think the only way he’ll be safe is if he stays with us._

_HJ: But that’s a big step, we’re gonna go from one hyperactive toddler to two, and the new one is part dog. I don’t even know what that’s gonna mean in terms of our family life._

_SH: Going to the park every day maybe? Maybe we could cut the costs of meals and feed him dog food???_

_HJ: SEONGHWA NO_

_SH: I WAS KIDDING_

Hongjoong snorted, leaning over to peck Seonghwa’s cheek. Seonghwa blushed, his lips stained as red as his cheeks from the cherry treat. Seonghwa bit off the last part of his popsicle, setting the stained stick on the table with the wrapper. Hongjoong’s hand wormed its way into Seonghwa’s hand under the table and each man smiled, gazes falling on San and Mingi. Mingi had pink cream all over his face, a dot on his nose and a ring around his mouth. Seonghwa giggled, taking a napkin from the pile on the table and swiping it against Mingi’s cheeks. The child scrunched his face up, though he let Seonghwa get all the sticky ice cream off of his face.

San wasn’t finished with his ice cream yet but it was already starting to drip down his hands, staining his shirt. Hongjoong tutted, scooping the child out of his seat and using a napkin to clean him off. San wriggled and squirmed in Hongjoong’s hold, but Hongjoong was finally able to wipe the child’s face free of his desert.

“Okay, are we ready to go? Now that we’re all nice and clean?” Seonghwa reached out to pinch Mingi’s cheek, lips curling into a smile as the child grinned back at him.

“Okay! Mingi, after dinner, maybe we can watch a movie! And then you get to sleep over! You can sleep in the racecar bed, if you want.” San let Hongjoong scoop him up, curling his arms around Hongjoong’s neck and swinging his little legs back and forth.

Mingi stood, sticking close to Seonghwa as the man cleaned up the trash from the table. Mingi caught on quickly, scooping up the last few napkins and presenting them proudly to the man.

“Ah, thank you Mingi!” Seonghwa gathered up all of the garbage, tossing it in the can by the door and holding the door open for Hongjoong and San. Mingi trailed behind them, looking imploringly up at Seonghwa.

“Would you like me to carry you?” Seonghwa raised an eyebrow, chuckling when Mingi nodded vigorously and held his hands up excitedly. Seonghwa lifted the child up, cooing when Mingi laid his head down on Seonghwa’s shoulder. Hongjoong and Seonghwa carted their children back home, smiling gently when they noticed that they had both fallen asleep.

“It’s late, let’s get them to bed.”

“Ok. Where is Mingi sleeping?” Seonghwa whispered, bringing a hand up to stroke the back of Mingi’s head. Mingi’s two little furry ears twitched slightly at Seonghwa’s touch, but the child didn’t wake.

“You know what, why don’t we all sleep as a family.” Hongjoong lead the way to their bedroom, sighing as he realized that San and Mingi would sleep in their day clothes.

“It’s fine babe, we need to get Mingi his own clothes anyways. Let’s just sleep now.” Seonghwa laid Mingi down on the bed, tucking the child under the covers. Hongjoong did the same to San, ducking into the closet to change into pajamas and bumping into Seonghwa in the small proximity.

The two men stumbled out of the closet and into the bathroom, sighing when the realized that the children wouldn’t brush their teeth before bed. Seonghwa caught Hongjoon’s hand before the man left, tugging him close and wrapping him in a tight hug.

“Thank you babe. For understanding, and for letting him stay.”

“Thank you for bringing him here. I love you, Seonghwa.”

“Love you too.” Seonghwa pressed a short kiss to Hongjoong’s lips, pressing their foreheads together and smiling. They stood like that for a moment, drinking each others’ presence in, before they walked hand in hand to the bed and crawled under the covers. As was their nightly routine, each man pressed a kiss to San’s forehead and nose, barely hesitating at all before doing the same to Mingi.

Hongjoong tugged San to curl into his chest, leaving Mingi to subconsciously snuggle into Seonghwa’s arms. The men smiled at each other in the darkness, happy to have expanded their little family to someone who fit so perfectly with them.


End file.
